If you could add or take away one component of the Internet as it exists now, what would it be?

Let me start by saying that the Internet is literally the
greatest thing mankind has ever invented. One might say that this
is hyperbole, but I lack the words to describe the importance of
the internet in this day and age. Vital would not even come close
to doing it justice. I am hard pressed to name something that you
can’t do with the help of internet. And being a student at uni,
one can safely say that a lot of my life revolves around the
internet. As a disclosure, I will use several tech companies as
my main examples throughout the article because these are the
websites that we can associate with and that I personally use a
lot.

For all the good the internet has to offer, there are two major
pitfalls that I would like to highlight in this essay. The
reasons I singled them out is that firstly, we are all aware of
the hard truths yet we still ignore them and continue with our
folly and secondly the fact that when I say we, I do not use this
collective noun simply as a stylistic device, but because I am a
victim to them as much as anybody.

Major issue number one is privacy. Over the course of the last
year this issue has come to the foreground in the wake of
scandals such as the NSA Snowden affair and the resulting furore
that included tech companies coming together to “protect” their
consumers. I have no doubt that their coming together was
well-intentioned; I do however see the irony in the move, seeing
as how these tech companies make their bread and butter from what
they know about you. Many people are aware of the fact that
Facebook, Google etc collect data about them, but this fact is
simply acknowledged for a short moment and then forgotten.

For people that have no idea what I am talking about, let me
oversimplify for the purpose of jolting you into action. The
reason that Facebook, Google and a majority if not all websites
are free is because you are the product. “What? How can I be the
product?” you ask. “How is money is being made off of me?” Let’s
think for a moment. That search for a new phone’s specifications
on Google and then suddenly while surfing Facebook ads for mobile
phones start appearing. While on YouTube suggested videos and ads
start appearing for the same. Coincidence? I think not. While
this occurrence has now become so common place that most people
are smart enough to realise what’s going on or have even become
desensitized, they don’t get worried by the fact that literally
your every move funds big brother quest to improve ways to more
effectively collect data on you. Most people are unaware that
Facebook even has an option to download all the data they have on
you. Surprising that without even personally knowing you, they
can actually build a pretty accurate picture of you with all
those “likes”. Hmm, it can’t be hard to find because they don’t
want you to go looking for this information, can it? There must
be a reason why opting out of ads is one of the hardest things to
do on the interest, if it happens to work at all.

On the flipside, I have also seen several revamped privacy
features and a general effort by the industry to disclose the
fact that they collect data about you. Also new, or at least
being highlighted, is the option to opt-out of ads or tracking.
One development I am watching with interest is the “right to be
forgotten” ruling that has nothing to do with ads definitely a
step in the right direction regarding rights of the individual on
the net.

This is not an effort to scare you off using the internet; it is
simply meant to open your eyes to what is going on behind the
scenes. It’s one thing if your government is spying on you, it’s
another if you hand them all the information on a silver platter
and then be surprised if details about you can be uncovered by a
simple Google search of you that links to your Facebook profile
and shows me all your pictures and likes in a matter of seconds.
The younger demographic and perhaps many first time users does
not seem that concerned with the tons of information they upload
about themselves and this needs to change.

The second major issue I want to shed some light on is the amount
of man hours wasted on the internet. Because this issue is not as
pressing as the one that I devoted the bulk of my essay to, I do
not need to expound in as great detail. I imagine a few of you
are grinning right now thinking of the hours spent on 9gag,
collegehumor or Instagram. While entertainment value on these
sites is high, there is nothing worthwhile that is gained from
them and they eat a lot of one’s time without one noticing it. A
lot of time is spent clicking through photos or doing something
equally mundane without any noticeable enrichment to your life.
To tackle this issue one just needs to prioritise and avoid
wasting valuable time.

As a conclusion I would like to equivocally state that the
Internet is the most valuable resource we have today. This essay
simply seeks to open your eyes on what’s happening behind the
curtain and to urge you to be more conscious on what you share,
“like” and even comment. I hope you keep the core statements of
this essay in mind when you surf the internet in future. The two
sources I have cited below make for some interesting reading and
I encourage you to peruse them. Here’s to a more educated and
vigilant internet user!

Tweets from our network

Find us on Facebook

Voices of Youth (VOY) was founded in 1995 as UNICEF’s online place for young people to learn more about issues affecting their world. VOY was recently redesigned for a more modern youth audience and is now the go-to place where you can know more, learn more and do more about our world! You can share your thoughts and opinions with thousands of people from all over the world. You can also discuss social issues such as Education, Environment or Violence and Conflict and inform yourself about HIV/AIDS, Health or Human Rights.